𝑺𝑬𝑨 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑬𝑨𝑹𝑺 ✧ 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌 𝑶𝒅𝒂𝒊𝒓

𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐈, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝟔𝟕𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒

☆彡

Her body was dripping in sweat as she ran through the tight-hanging vines, attempting to smash them with her hands. She didn't have enough focus to grab the knives hanging in her belt to assist her in making a pathway through the jungle.

She was frantic. Whom she once called her friend was aiming for her, chasing her through the never-ending jungle.

Including her, there were only four left out of the twenty-four tributes that entered the arena. Rihanna was the head leader of the destruction of the tributes, to her anguish.

"Rihanna! Just give up. You don't even want to win." Zale Astor's voice coursed through the arena, parrots escaping from their safe nests in the treetops at the outburst.

Desperate for cover, Rihanna swung her body effortlessly far up on a branch, courtesy of the many vines. Her breath hitched in her throat. Zale's mop of blonde hair was to spot, just under the branch, she clammed to tightly, not intending to make any form of sound.

He stopped in his tracks, "Where are you?" His voice mockingly called as he spun slowly around in circles, hoping to spot the dark-haired girl somewhere in his surroundings.

Rihanna hoped he just would have walked away, giving up on assassinating his District partner just yet. But he didn't.

"We both knew from the start that I would be the one winning," he sneered, his voice ever so cold. "The only reason you've survived yet is by being a cold-hearted killer!"

She sucked in a breath as quite as possible. Her mind went back to the night before the games had started. The night where he exposed his confessions—the ones she just couldn't share back.

Her hand hesitantly gripped one of the knives that hung from her belt. Tears were beaming at her eyes as she prepared herself to lash down.

"Rihanna, just give-" Zale's voice was cut off as he fell face down into the muddy ground. Rihanna tried to use her body weight to hold down the boy. Zale, being much stronger than her, flipped them around easily.

Fighting for her life in the mud, Rihanna knew there was only one option. The same option that made her do the attack firsthand.

She gained back the upper hand in the fight, being on top of Zale. He was reaching out for the spear that hung on his back. She took the opportunity, as she smeared mud in his eyes, a loud groan escaped his lips.

He grabbed around her throat, flipping them around multiple times until they unexpectedly tumbled down a hill.

Rihanna growled as she lay on her back. Her whole left leg was cramping from the long fall.

This was it, she thought. This was the moment she was going to die.

She managed to ignore the pain as she looked to her side. Zale was also hurt. But he seemed to ignore that, as his eyes found Rihanna again. She tried to get up in the hope of running away, but no hope was left; she could barely feel her leg.

Zale crawled over to her. He saw the tears streaming out of her eyes. This was his chance to be one step closer to winning.

His spear was out. He was ready to attack. "You know, Rihanna, it is a shame we had to go in here together." He managed to groan out as he crept over her body.

"But of course, the academy's best student had to volunteer." He wrapped a piece of her hair behind her ear.

"And now I, Zale Astor, will kill you, Rihanna Del Mar, the mayor's daughter." He prepared his spear.

Rihanna let out a loud cry as she stuck the knife into his abdomen. The knife she had managed to sneak into her hand under his presence.

His body collapsed on top of her, suffocating her easily. A mumble was whispered in her ear before the canon beamed up, indicating a tribute's death. Zales death.

She howled out a scream.

Squirming herself as far away as possible from the dead body of Zale as she could, her unstoppable crying was the only thing that could be heard in the silence after the canon.

She desperately tried to wipe all the blood off her body. All of Zale's blood. It was of no use, as it was just staining her hands instead. She couldn't stop herself from screaming, her hands grabbing at her scalp. She felt like she was going crazy.

Curling herself into a tight ball, her back facing Zale, she tried to calm herself down by whispering reassurances to herself—to no matter at all.

"It is not your fault."

"It's not"

She had killed Asha, Bellatrix, and Nathan, people she didn't even know the names of, and now Zale, her district partner.

She was devastated. She never thought she would be the one to kill her partner from home. She never thought she would kill anyone.
Her mind was lost. She didn't know what to do or how to act at the time. All she knew was that she wanted to go home to her sister, dad, and mom. To experience the comfort of the waves just once again.

Soon, day turned to night—or the in-between. Woken up by distant screams, Rihanna looked at the sky. The sun was half up, and the moon too.

They wanted the Games done by now, and they wanted it to end with a show.

As the roars came closer, Rihanna stumbled to her feet. Running as much as she could in the opposite direction of the roaring. She had met the threat once before, and she was terrified still.

She took a glimpse behind her as she spotted them. Mutant-tiger mutts.

Running for her life, ignoring the intense pain she felt in her leg, she lost track of where she had run. The whole jungle looked the same. It was easy to get lost. But Rihanna figured that, at that moment, it was best to just run.

A little hope came to her when she could spot the cornucopia between two trees. The first time she encountered the mutts, she learned that they couldn't be around the cornucopia.

Using the remains of the power in her body, she sprinted like never before through the hanging vines, smashing them along.

Angry roars screeched after her as she rested her hands on her knees. Heavy breaths escaped her mouth. Tears were forming once more in her eyes, and she let them flow out.

She was on the verge of a breakdown, one more painful than the others she had experienced in this very arena.

Rihanna had tried to promise herself not to break down and not show the Capitol any sort of weakness or emotion. But she didn't either expect to be among the last standing tributes.

From the start, when she volunteered, she wasn't sure if she wanted to win or lose; the only reason she volunteered was to save the life of her sister. Rihanna knew that she didn't have the mentality to win. And to be fair, she didn't understand how she had survived for so long or if she could just move on from what had happened in the Games if she happened to win.

Gathering herself back together, she wiped her nose and the residue of her tears as a smirk crept onto her face. Her mind was like a tornado. So many thoughts were flying around, and she didn't know which to act on.

"Just come and get me, if you have the guts for it!" Her voice pierced the air as she sped towards the cornucopia, jumping onto the top of it. She spun around herself multiple times and said, "I am all yours!"

Hours passed, and there had been no signs of the other two remaining tributes. Rihanna's body wanted to rest, but her mind wouldn't allow it. She had stayed sat on top of the cornucopia, knees to her chest, her mind wondering. It wasn't before the same roars were heard again in the arena that Rihanna flew to her feet.

A District One tribute came emerging from the jungle; his eyes immediately landed on her, and a confident smile crept onto his face.

"Why did I just know that you would've survived?" Silver's voice was somewhat soft as he slowly approached the cornucopia.

"In the end, I'm a Career, ain't I?" She tried to smile back with the same enthusiasm Silver held, her hand gripping onto a knife in her belt.

"Easy there, Del Mar. I'm not planning to kill you just yet." He laughed, but her hand remained tight on the knife.

"Why would I trust you?" She sneered.

"You wouldn't, and you shouldn't. But for Diamond." Rihanna cringed at the name of the friend she had gained over the week before the games.

"What happened to her?" She asked, her free hand clenched tightly in a ball, her fingernails forming crescent-shaped marks into her skin.

"She got killed by Seven after we Careers split up." He sighed, "Do you know who the other tribute left is?"

"No clue-" Rihanna was cut off as she got pushed off the cornucopia. She was quick to realize that she had been tricked.

Rihanna found her way back to her feet as the two boys approached her from both sides. "This is for Bellatrix!" Blaze from District Two threw a spear at her, that she managed to dodge with a roll to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Riri." Silver muttered as he launched for her, sending them both to the ground.

Rihanna kicked Silver off of her with her leg, giving her a minor chance. She noticed in the corner of her eye that Blaze was about to spear her. She threw a knife, hitting him right in the thigh as he stumbled down.

Silver held her back with his bow as she was straddled by his waist, ready to end his life. Eventually, he lost control of his bow, and it flew to the side.

He kicked Rihanna in the middle of her stomach, making her crumble beside him. He took the advantage as he towered over her body, placing his hands on her throat.

Fighting for her life, she was once grateful for the move she was taught by her mentor.

Her thighs wrapped around his abdomen, and her hands were on his throat. In a not-so-swift move, she flipped the two over once again, snapping his neck in the process.

Tears prickled at her eyes again. "No, I am sorry."

Standing up, she noticed Blaze struggling to get to his feet again. This was Rihanna's opportunity.

She flew, crashing into him, brutally taking the knife stuck in his thigh out, causing a loud yell to escape Blaze's mouth. Rihanna screamed aloud as she stuck the blood-covered knife into his heart without thinking twice.

Her vision blurred as she heard the distant sounds of the canon going off.

She rolled away from Blaze, gazing up at the sky. She felt her eyes shut, and she dozed off, away from the reality she was about to face. The sound of her cries was the only comfort she had at the moment.

"Wow! What a show! May I present to you: our victor of the 67th Hunger Games, Rihanna Del Mar!"